Chapter 33 Exercises: Ethics of AI Use — Disclosure, Attribution, and Fairness
Instructions
These exercises build practical ethical reasoning skills through case analysis, framework development, and reflection. Some have clear answers; others require genuine judgment calls. Complete the judgment-call exercises with written reasoning — articulating your reasoning is as important as the conclusion.
Part 1: Disclosure Analysis
Exercise 1.1: Disclosure Sliding Scale Application
For each scenario, identify where it falls on the disclosure sliding scale (AI-polished / AI-structured / AI-drafted / AI-generated) and what disclosure, if any, is appropriate:
a) You wrote a business proposal; AI checked it for grammar and suggested one sentence rephrase you accepted.
b) You gave AI a bulleted list of your key points; AI wrote a 1,500-word report; you read it, made some edits, and submitted it to a client.
c) You asked AI to "write a market analysis of the renewable energy sector for 2026" and submitted the result with minor adjustments.
d) You used AI to generate five possible strategic options based on a client brief, then wrote the analysis and recommendation yourself using your own judgment.
e) You use AI to generate first drafts that you extensively rewrite — the final product is substantially different from the AI output but was scaffolded by it.
For each: state your disclosure assessment and explain the reasoning.
Exercise 1.2: Context-Specific Disclosure Standards
Write one paragraph each describing the appropriate disclosure standard for AI assistance in:
a) An academic term paper at a university with a published AI policy b) A personal essay for a graduate school application c) A ghost-written op-ed attributed to a CEO d) A strategic consulting report delivered to a client e) A social media post published under your professional name f) An investigative news article for a major publication
What different factors create different standards across these contexts?
Exercise 1.3: The Direct Question
Write your honest, complete answer to the following question asked by a client or employer: "Do you use AI tools in your work for me? How?"
Your answer should be accurate, professional, and neither over- nor under-discloses. Write it as you would actually say it in a real conversation.
Part 2: Attribution Practice
Exercise 2.1: Attribution Language
Write three different attribution/disclosure statements for a 40-page consulting report where: the research synthesis was substantially AI-assisted, the analysis and strategic conclusions were yours, and the writing was a mix of AI drafts you substantially revised.
Write one version for: (a) a footnote in the report, (b) a brief verbal statement to the client during delivery, and (c) a full written statement if the client specifically asks about AI use.
Exercise 2.2: The Authorship Question
A professional acquaintance asks you: "If AI wrote most of your article, are you really the author?"
Write a response that honestly engages with the question — not a deflection or a defense, but a genuine attempt to articulate what authorship means when AI has made substantial contributions.
Exercise 2.3: Ghost-Writing Comparison
Compare the following three scenarios for their ethical similarity and difference:
a) A CEO has a book ghost-written by a professional writer, published under the CEO's name b) A CEO has a book drafted substantially by an AI tool, reviewed and edited by the CEO, published under the CEO's name c) A CEO has a book generated entirely by AI with minimal review, published under the CEO's name
What are the ethically relevant differences between these scenarios? What common principle runs through them?
Part 3: Fairness Analysis
Exercise 3.1: Competitive Context Analysis
For each competitive context below, identify: (a) who has better AI access, (b) whether that access differential creates a meaningful fairness problem, and (c) what, if anything, should be done about it:
a) Two candidates applying for the same job, one of whom has premium AI tool subscriptions and strong prompting skills
b) Students in the same class, some from high-income families with access to premium AI tutoring tools
c) Two competing consulting firms bidding on the same RFP, one with enterprise AI infrastructure and one without
d) Two countries' delegations preparing for international negotiations
Exercise 3.2: Team Fairness Scenario
You are a team manager. Two team members produce similar quality outputs. You learn that Team Member A uses AI tools extensively (spending 2 hours on AI-assisted work that Team Member B spends 6 hours on), while Team Member B produces the same output quality purely through personal effort.
Questions to work through:
a) Should output quality alone determine performance evaluation, regardless of how it was produced? b) If using AI is permitted and both team members use it, but one uses it more skillfully, should the more skilled AI user be evaluated more favorably? c) If you learn that Team Member B cannot use AI effectively due to a technical literacy gap, does that change your analysis? d) What is the fair evaluation framework here?
Write your reasoning, not just your conclusions.
Exercise 3.3: The Access Audit
Think about your use of AI tools in professional contexts where you compete with others (job applications, grant proposals, competitive bids, professional assessments). For each:
a) What AI advantage do you have over some competitors? b) Is that advantage primarily from access (you have tools they don't) or from skill (you use tools they also have, but more effectively)? c) What is your ethical assessment of that advantage in each competitive context?
Part 4: Deception Bright Lines
Exercise 4.1: Bright Line Identification
For each of the following, determine: clear bright line violation / ethically complex gray area / clearly acceptable:
a) Writing five-star reviews of your own product using AI b) Using AI to make your genuine review of a product more eloquent c) Running a social media account under a human persona that is actually AI-generated d) Using AI to improve the language in a testimonial a real customer said they wanted to write but struggled to articulate e) Creating AI-generated social content attributed to real executives that they haven't reviewed or approved f) Using AI to write marketing copy that enthusiastically describes your product's benefits
For each gray area: what makes it gray, and what would move it toward acceptable vs. toward violation?
Exercise 4.2: The Disclosure-Resolution Test
For each ethically complex scenario you identified in Exercise 4.1, ask: "Would disclosure to the relevant audience resolve the ethical problem?"
If disclosure resolves it, the issue is about transparency rather than deception. If disclosure doesn't resolve it (the deception is the problem, not just the concealment), the issue is a bright line regardless of disclosure.
Apply this analysis to each gray area scenario.
Part 5: Building Your Personal Ethics Framework
Exercise 5.1: Draft Your Framework
Using the core principles from Section 5 as a starting template, draft your personal AI ethics framework. Your framework should:
- Be specific to your professional context and the domains where you use AI
- Include your disclosure standard for each major type of AI use you do
- Address attribution in any contexts where you publish or submit work publicly
- State your position on the deception bright lines
- Note any fairness considerations relevant to your competitive contexts
Write this as a document you could actually use and reference. It should be 1-2 pages.
Exercise 5.2: Framework Stress Test
Take your draft framework and stress-test it against three scenarios you haven't yet encountered but could:
a) A prospective employer asks you directly and in detail about AI use in your portfolio b) A client discovers AI involvement in a deliverable you didn't disclose and is upset c) A new regulatory requirement mandates disclosure that your framework doesn't currently address
How does your framework handle each scenario? What gaps does the stress test reveal?
Exercise 5.3: Framework Review Planning
Your framework will need to evolve as norms develop. Write a brief review plan:
- When will you revisit your framework? (Annually? When a significant event occurs? Both?)
- What sources will inform the review? (Professional association guidance, legal developments, peer practice changes)
- Who, if anyone, will you share your framework with to get feedback and accountability?
Part 6: Reflection
Exercise 6.1: Honest Assessment of Current Practice
Write an honest assessment of your current AI use against your drafted ethics framework. Where are you in compliance with your own principles? Where have you, on reflection, acted outside them? What will you change?
This is for your use only. Honesty is the point.
Exercise 6.2: The Community Norm Question
If AI use without disclosure became universally accepted in your professional community — everyone used AI without disclosure and it was completely normal — would that change whether disclosure is ethically required?
Write a 200-word response engaging seriously with this question. (The "everyone does it" consideration has genuine complexity — engage with that complexity rather than dismissing it.)
Exercise 6.3: The Next Hard Question
What is the ethical question about AI use in your specific professional context that this chapter didn't address and that you need to think through? Write it out clearly, describe why it's genuinely hard, and articulate your tentative current position.